Constant force spring electrical connection adapter assemblies are known. Such assemblies typically comprise a hollow bored adapter shell for cable termination. Such adapter shells typically comprise a body portion having forward and rearward ends, the forward end of the body portion being adapted for removable attachment to an electrical component housing or to an electric junction box, and the rearward end of the body portion being adapted for removable attachment to a protective cable sheathing. Such forward adaptation typically comprises a helically threaded rotatable coupling nut or an outwardly extending mounting flange having mounting screw receiving apertures or slots. The rearward adaptation of such hollow bored adapter typically comprises a cylindrical nipple having a circular lateral cross sectional shape and having an outwardly opening constant force spring receiving channel.
In use of such constant force spring adapter, the nipple is nestingly extended into an open end of a flexible cable sheathing causing the sheathing to overlie the nipple's outwardly opening channel. Thereafter, a constant force spring (also known as a negator or Hunter spring) is spirally wrapped about the nipple and about the sheathing so that such spring flexibly compresses the sheathing radially inward into the outwardly opening channel. The inward compression securely annularly attaches the sheathing to the nipple. Graphic depictions of the constant force spring assembly described above appear in U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,248 issued on Feb. 20, 1990 to Robertson, et al.
A drawback or deficiency of such constant force spring adapter and sheathing assemblies is that the cross sectional shape of the nipple is restricted to circular. Where the nipple has, for example, a non-circular oval square or rectangular shape, a circular constant force spring wrapped thereabout will undesirably press the sheathing into the outwardly opening channel only at discreet contact points, as opposed to continuous annular compression, resulting in an insecure attachment of the sheath.
Shrink ring adapter assemblies are configured similarly with constant force spring adapter assemblies, as described above. As in constant force spring adapters, the forward end of the body portion of a shrink ring adapter comprises a coupling nut or mounting flange, and the rearward end comprises a nipple having an outwardly opening shrink ring receiving channel. A drawback or deficiency of shrink ring adapters it that shrink rings cannot be installed to overlie a sheath and nipple without extending such ring over the length of the sheathed cable or over the adapter. Often, such extension of a heat shrink ring is mechanically blocked by cable or backshell structures. A drawback or deficiency of such shrink ring adapter assemblies relates to the dimensions of the channel defining annular walls which outwardly extend from the nipple. In order to assemble such shrink ring adapter, a shrink ring must initially overlie and be slidably moveable longitudinally over the combined outside diameters of the sheath and such annular wall. Accordingly, the inside diameter of the shrink ring must initially be sufficiently large to allow such slidable movement. As a result of such geometry, a large percentage of shrinkage needed for such shrink ring to effectively compress the flexible sheath into the outwardly opening channel is dedicated to spanning the radial height of such annular wall. Heat shrink ring shrinkage needed for effective sheath compression and attachment does not commence until after occurrence of shrinkage needed to accommodate passage of the ring over such obstacles. Where a circular shrink ring is utilized for attaching a sheathing to an adapter having a non-circular nipple, such drawbacks and deficiencies are aggravated, requiring initial shrinkage to accommodate both the geometries of ridge and sheath structures and the non-circular nipple shape.
The instant inventive electrical connector assembly overcomes the drawbacks and deficiencies of both the above described constant force spring adapter assembly and shrink ring adapter assembly by utilizing a first and at least a second steel “C” band. Such bands effectively replace the above described constant force spring, and the heat shrink ring, providing mechanical benefits and advantages of both while avoiding drawbacks and deficiencies of both.